Breaking News | Canada Bans the Conversion of Visitor Visas to Work Permits Starting Today!

As of August 28, temporary residents in Canada holding visitor visas are no longer allowed to apply for work permits from within the country.

This policy, introduced in August 2020, aimed to assist Canadian visitors who were unable to return to their home countries due to border closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under this policy, they could apply for a work permit without leaving Canada. Additionally, anyone who held a work permit within the past 12 months but had changed their immigration status to “visitor” was eligible to “legally work in Canada while awaiting a decision on their new work permit application.”

Initially, the policy was set to expire on February 28, 2025. However, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) stated that terminating the policy now is “part of our overall effort to recalibrate the number of temporary residents in Canada and maintain the integrity of the immigration system.”

The department noted that applications submitted under this policy before August 28 will continue to be processed.

Crackdown on Bad Actors

IRCC mentioned that one of the reasons for the early termination of the policy is the awareness that “some unscrupulous individuals have been misleading foreign nationals to work in Canada without authorization under this policy.”

This aligns with the department’s ongoing efforts to combat widespread immigration fraud and reduce the number of temporary residents.

For example, last year, 700 Indian students were found stranded in Canada with fake acceptance letters from designated learning institutions (DLIs). Many of them were unaware that their acceptance letters were fraudulent.

In response, IRCC now requires DLIs to verify all acceptance letters within 10 days of receiving international student applications. It has also limited the number of international students Canada will accept over the next two years.

Changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Levels

The termination of the temporary policy allowing certain visitors to apply for work permits comes amid a week of significant reforms aimed at reducing the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada.

On August 26, the department announced a suspension of processing Labor Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) under the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) until September 26, 2024. This will affect applicants in metropolitan areas with unemployment rates of 6% or higher.

IRCC also announced limits on the number of foreign workers Canadian employers can hire under the TFWP (capped at 10% of their total workforce), and the maximum employment period for workers in the low-wage stream will be reduced from two years to one year.

Similar to today’s announcement, many of these changes represent a rollback of pandemic-era immigration policies created to address the labor needs at the time. For example, during the pandemic, IRCC (in collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)) introduced temporary policies allowing Canadian workers to employ up to 30% of their workforce through the low-wage stream of the TFWP and extended the validity of LMIA to 12 months.

Last May, after a joint press conference held by Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault and Immigration Minister Marc Miller, IRCC and ESDC began phasing out these pandemic-era policies.

In the same press conference, Minister Miller made a historic announcement by including temporary residents in the annual immigration levels plan, a first in the history of Canadian immigration.

Immigration has become a focal topic in Canada, with much of this year spent on announcements regarding the management and reduction of temporary residents in the country. As of this week, Minister Miller also announced his intention to consider changing the number of permanent residents in Canada in the coming years.

Potential Solutions

Although the visitor-to-work permit conversion has been suspended, the original temporary policy was set to expire in six months, and the early termination signifies the Canadian government’s determination to reform immigration policies. For applicants seeking to convert their visitor status to work permits, obtaining a passport from another country through property investment may be the most suitable solution, especially for those who wish to complete their work or immigration applications abroad. If interested, please contact us using the information below!

If you have also been affected by temporary policy changes during your application process, feel free to reach out to us using the contact information below, and we will tailor a suitable solution for you!

At Altec Global, we are dedicated to helping individuals achieve their Canadian immigration dreams, no matter how challenging the circumstances may seem. If you need immigration assistance, we encourage you to contact our team for a personalized assessment.